Cleaning Duty
by Kawaii Kisu
Summary: He came to a shocking revelation while ogling a certain archer. Post Ep. 15  Humanity


**Mount Justice**

**October 11, 07:58 EDT**

It didn't make any sense. There was just no logical reason, no _right_ for that much skin to be showing. Not even _that_ much skin, just the whole…midriff area. A very tanned, very toned, very flat yet pleasantly curved midriff that always managed to draw his attention when he least expected and wanted it to. Made no damn sense. No damn sense at all.

But he wasn't looking away.

His eyes had been wandering—for some unexplainable reason or other—ever since the team had been abruptly woken and dragged to the front entrance of the Cave first thing in the morning. Every logical neuron in his brain should have told him to be just as petrified, just as glum and moody and scared shitless like the rest of his teammates as an infinitely pissed off Batman chewed them out for nearly an hour straight. ("What part of 'Tornado is _Justice __League_' did you all _NOT_ understand? What part of _covert __missions_ do you _NOT_ understand?") And if the gruffer than usual screeching of everyone's favorite bat didn't do the trick, then the left over grogginess clouding his teenaged brain should have been enough to keep him from ogling. After all, what teenager _wanted_ to be awake at eight in the morning, snack-less at that? But.

Artemis and her damned skin.

So he had tuned out most of Batman's fussing, somewhat reluctantly letting his green eyes wander over to the blonde standing beside him. Stiff, sporting the usual pout, steely blue eyes trained on their mentor as one of her hands settled itself against her hip. And yeah, it wasn't like he didn't notice the rest of his teammates standing at attention as well—even Zatanna was there, which wasn't really surprising considering their Red fiasco the night before. Her father didn't hesitate in dragging her forever grounded butt out with the rest of the team, so there she stood with the expression of a scolded child.

But he couldn't focus on the pretty new face, no. Something had him staring at Artemis in particular, at all that green and that equally shocking curtain of gold—what exactly did she _do_ with all that hair? Why did she need so much? Not that it looked bad, but—

"…I understood?"

The boy blinked, looking up at the cloaked figure suddenly peering down at him. All thoughts of bare skin and why he was so distracted by it promptly left his mind, and he felt nine pairs of eyes resting on him. Only one pair had heat rushing up to his ear tips. Batman never looked so cold.

Wally had to force himself to swallow. "Um…come again?"

"You will be cleaning every inch of this cave, every crevice, every corner, every piece of equipment. No. Powers. And afterward, no more outings for any of you until _I_ give the okay. There will be _**no**_ complaining. Am. I. Understood?"

"Yes sir!"

"Then hop to it."

You didn't argue with the Batman.

With that Batman whipped around to fuss some more at Black Canary. (Technically, it wasn't her fault that they had snuck out…but better her than them.) The kids ended up turning to the mildly amused Zatara, who had already brought out a number of brooms and mops, buckets filled with rags and sponges and various cleaning products. (Windex, anyone?) They started to split up as they took the supplies, mentally grumbling to each other but keeping their mouths shut tight with Batty still present. Conner and Megan, of course. Kaldur by his lonesome, but looking none too bothered by it. Zatanna, along with Robin who was still putting the mac on, still managing to make her smile in the midst of their punishment.

Wally and…Artemis.

He tried not to think too much about it.

So the team split. Somehow he and Artemis ended up in the library with two brooms, a bucket of soapy water, and two wash cloths. Wiping downs shelves, sweeping underneath tables, dusting off desktops, and eventually pushing aside loose furniture so they could get the mopping done—or scrubbing, since they had no actual mop—and still Wally's eyes were wandering. Was something wrong with him today? He couldn't snap out of it. It wasn't like she was doing anything to warrant the attention either, but that _stomach_. That body. Hormones, yeah. Sleepy, sexually frustrated, eager hormones. But that body. Why was it suddenly popping out to him now? This was _Artemis_.

"Any reason you're zoning out there, Walster?"

Being the attentive girl she was, she caught on quick. She had her own broom propped up beneath her elbow at that point, her other hand back on that waist, those hips now curved in an expectant demeanor. She was scowling at the boy, but that dazed look was still on his freckled face and she couldn't help but be amused on some level.

"Huh? Wha?" Again he blinked. Then, suddenly annoyed, he tore his eyes away and turned his attention back to the mop bucket they had set aside. He knelt down and started wiping down the tiled floor. "Oh, no reason. Just lost in thought."

"You? Lost in thought? Ha! Good one."

"Ouch."

"Look, no need to be shy. I saw you making goo-goo eyes at what's her face earlier. Though I think Boy Wonder's already made his move."

"What?" It took him a moment to realize just what she was talking about, who she was talking about—and a wave of relief washed over him. A small one, mind you. He cracked a grin at the thought of his best friend crushing on _any_one, especially someone he clicked with immediately, dunking his wash cloth back in the bucket and ringing it out. "You mean Zatanna? Please, as if."

"So she's not your type?"

He wasn't sure if there was a hidden meaning behind that question or not. He figured, with the way the girl was flicking her hair over her shoulder and lazily swishing the broom back and forth, she probably didn't care. She made purposeful steps beside the red head, leaving light boot prints on the wet tile. A smirk. "Oh, right. Every girl's your type."

"Every girl but you," he snapped with a pointed finger.

The smirk just grew. "Right."

Forget her bod; she still had a way of ticking him off. Of course ol' Rob got lucky, and dear Conner as well. They got the _sweet_ chicks, the _cool_ ones. And Kaldur? Wally wasn't sure if the Atlantean had a special someone hidden away somewhere, but if he did surely she wouldn't have been as mouthy as Artemis. As infuriating. As alluring, as…

This was weird.

"God, this place brings back unwanted memories," Artemis cut in after a moment or two. Propping her broom against one of the tables, she stretched her arms—those damnably slender arms—into the air, then settled her bum on the table's surface. Crossed legs, leaned back. She eyed the bucket with a frown. "Water in general. I'm glad this whole Red Tornado business is done with."

"You're _still_ on that?"

"You try nearly drowning to death three missions in a row. Fun stuff."

"Once is enough for me, thanks."

"It just _blows_ we have to deal with spring cleaning. What kind of punishment is that? The place is spotless enough as it is."

"Ah, ah. No complaining, 'member? Plus it's October."

She scoffed. "Whatever. That old bat can't hear us anyway."

"Don't wanna take any chances, though." He wrung out the second soapy rag, playfully tossing it in the blonde's face and eliciting a sharp cry of disgust as it made squishy contact. With a laugh he picked up his cloth again. "Now get off your lazy behind and help me."

"So you can check me out again? Don't think so."

His eyes widened for just a second before he stuck his tongue out. "I wasn't—"

"The hell you weren't." She was plucking off her boots and hopping down anyway. And even though he wasn't staring anymore—he refused to let himself—she made a point of swishing her butt in his face as she slapped her rag against the floor, pleased by the redness of his ears. "You can't resist. It's like two fresh melons back there."

"Don't flatter yourself."

"You know you like my melons, Wally. You've been staring all morning." There was a sing-song quality to her voice now.

"Psh. Girl, please."

It was merely teasing. That was all it was. That was all it _could _be. They both knew that. Just shameless, non-serious, flirty teasing between two friends. Maybe a little strange for the two, but good-natured fun all the same. No big. But his heart hammered against his chest when the girl pressed said melons against the back of his head, almost like she was trying to sit on him. (_My _God, _they__'__re __firm?_) And for good measure, she blew a couple of raspberries, farting noises, as she wiggled her butt against him.

Laughing away some of the discomfort he reached his damp hands back to grip onto her hips. "Get your bubble butt off of me!"

"Ew, your fingers are wet!"

"It's your nasty melon juice."

"Groooooss—" And she couldn't contain her own laughter for much longer, trying to pull free from Wally's grip. She realized too late that she was being tickled. "Lemme go— Stop!"

There was no letting go. There was only shrill giggles, goofy grins, fingers working their hardest to keep the girl from escaping, poking tan skin; and if one didn't know any better they would think that this was serving as some sort of release for the two teens. It was a small tickle fest that led to Wally zipping this way and that in a matter of milliseconds as Artemis attempted to run in the opposite direction, that lead to the blonde picking up the bucket and dowsing the boy in sudsy water in retaliation. And her laughter only grew when said boy lost his balance and slid into one of the looming bookshelves with a squeal. A squeal! That had the girl all but cackling. To make matters worse, most of the books toppled over on top of him. Right on the healing arm, too.

Ow.

Any normal person would have expressed concern for the poor boy, probably helped him up and asked if he was okay. Artemis, far from normal, was instead eating up his physical misery. "That's a good look for you, Walster."

He offered no response at first. He nursed a throbbing head and arm, picked at stray strands of lint clinging to his now damp clothes. There was a pout on his lips, a spark in his green eyes as he looked at the highly amused girl. He was pushing books off of his sore body, shakily rising to his feet. And whatever it was that had him staring at her all morning was making a new thought run through his head. Whatever it was that had him so lovingly annoyed with the heroine had him realizing, maybe, there was more to this friendship than he wanted to admit, more to his attraction than he wanted to acknowledge.

So he skidded forward and splashed water in her face. Of course he ended up slipping again and managed to knock over the girl's legs, but it was worth it to see that look of surprise color her face before she toppled beside him. Her hair was beginning to frizz, and her clothes were sopping wet, and her feet were tangled in his, but that didn't keep them from bursting out in laughter again. At least until the soreness kicked back in. Sighing, Artemis punched the boy in the arm, ignoring the fact that it was still in a cast.

He winced, not even bothering to punch back or move for that matter. He let his head sag against the wet floor. "You're a skank sometimes, you know that?"

Another sly smile.

Then, slowly, she pressed a brief kiss to his cheek that made more than his ears flush red. It was the closest to a confession he was gonna get out of her, but that didn't really matter. Her usual snarky tone carried the slightest hint of shyness in it. "You know you love it."

Of course he wouldn't admit that he did.


End file.
